


Four Things Bruce Banner Learned About Being A Parent (And One He Didn't Have To)

by sweetheart35



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 4+1, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Angst, Avengers Family, Background Relationships, Clint Is a Good Bro, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fill, Team as Family, Thor isn't there because he's on Asgard sorry, natasha romanoff is not a robot, original child character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 16:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18553885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetheart35/pseuds/sweetheart35
Summary: Bruce acquires a baby while he's on the run in India.





	Four Things Bruce Banner Learned About Being A Parent (And One He Didn't Have To)

**1 - You are never ready to become one.**

Here’s the thing about India.

It’s not that great for his temper.

It’s always hot and sometimes it’s humid, which makes it nearly unbearable. It’s crowded. It doesn’t seem to matter where he is or how small the village appears to be, it’s next to impossible to turn around and not be running into another person. The living conditions, a lot of the time, are deplorable. The Other Guy keeps him from contract any deadly or lingering diseases, but Bruce has been sick to his stomach over the conditions he’s found people in more times than he can count.

Humanitarian aid isn’t something Bruce had ever given much consideration in the past. He hadn’t needed to. He had his lab and his research and his  _ experiments. _ He had Betty. Around Christmas, he donated to one of the charities on the street. He flipped the channel whenever the commercials asking for donations came on just like every other person on the planet because it made him uncomfortable. Bruce had tried to turn the first family that came to him away, tried to explain he wasn’t an aid worker or that kind of doctor, or really any doctor at all if it meant they’d leave him alone. They were insistent though, pushy, grabbing at his clothes, voices overlapping, getting noisier and noisier, crowding him and Bruce nearly hulked out right then.

The only reason he didn’t was because of a little boy no older than seven grasping his hand gently and whispering, voice wobbling and barely audible above the voices of the adults around him, “Kyrpa.”

Bruce isn’t a medical doctor, but his research lab made everyone go through first aid once a year and Bruce learned a lot about the human body in his attempts to recreate the super soldier serum.

He lets the little boy pull him along.

Here’s another thing about India.

They don’t particularly value the lives of their little girls and women, of their sisters and wives, especially in the rural villages. Bruce learned this early on and very quickly. It makes his blood boil when he is asked to prioritize the sons over the daughters, even when they’re not as injured or sick. But he also learned if he refuses to treat the sons or fathers or brothers unless he can treat the sisters or daughters or fathers, the families will usually cave very quickly and Bruce is able treat as many people as possible with what he has available.

It makes him sick, threatening to withhold treatment and he knows there’s no way he would walk out the door if the family refuses, but Bruce can’t, he  _ won’t, _ hold to this facet of their culture that says that a woman is lesser because of her birth, because their cultural can’t see the inherent value a woman holds; her strength, her resilience, her gentleness and wisdom.

(Bruce misses Betty so badly sometimes it’s a physical ache deep in his soul, something he and the Other Guy both agree on.)

When Bruce helps deliver a healthy new baby girl, screaming loud enough to wake the dead, he can’t stop the smile that breaks over his face. He holds her out to her mother, who looks at her daughter adoringly and runs a gentle finger over the baby’s cheek before leaning back in exhaustion. Bruce bundles the baby up in the blanket provided before heading to the main room and presenting the baby to her father.

He isn’t sure how to react when the father huffs in disgust and leaves the room when Bruce tells him he has a daughter. The look the baby’s uncle gives her has Bruce clutching the baby a little more tightly to his chest instinctively. He backs out of the room slowly, rocking the baby gently to try and quiet her. He passes the baby to he midwife, who helps the baby latch onto the mother while Bruce sets about massaging her stomach to help ease the placenta out.

The two women are talking rapidly in Hindi, their voices soft enough that even if Bruce had a better grasp of the language than his usual fumbling, he wouldn’t be able to understand them. He keeps his focus politely on the far wall to help preserve the mother’s modesty, murmuring a soft apology every time he presses a little too hard on her stomach and she hisses in discomfort.

“Banner.”

He looks up and tenses a bit at the looks the women are giving him. The mother looks a little terrified and Bruce is struck by how young she looks in a way she hadn’t before. The midwife is much older, her eyes striking as she pins him in place.

“Arjun,” the midwife says and Bruce nods. Arjun is the mother’s husband. “Arjun no -” She pauses, trying to think of a word they both know. She looks frustrated and the mother, whose name Bruce realizes he’d never gotten, is holding her daughter protectively.

“Good?” Bruce offers and the midwife looks puzzled. “Ah, achchha?” The midwife nods decisively.

“Arjun  achchha nahin hai,” she says firmly, but quietly, eyes darting towards the door. “Banner -” she points at him and then points at the baby. “Mirai.”

Bruce blinks. The mother tugs on the midwife’s sleeve and offers the baby to her. The midwife takes the newborn and stands, bringing her to Bruce, who reaches up to take her. “Arjun achchha nahin hai,” she repeats softly. She taps Bruce’s forehead. “Banner. Mirai.” She arranges Bruce’s hands more firmly around Mirai and taps his forehead once more before moving away from them and gathering items up from around the room. Bruce looks at the mother, who looks back at him steadily.

“Krypa,” she says, her voice pleading. “Krypa.”

The midwife presses a bag into his hands, forcing him to juggle the baby, Mirai, carefully into one arm, heart nearly stuttering to a stop at the unexpected motion, terrified he’ll drop her.

“I can’t take her,” Bruce objects, pushing to his feet. The midwife stops and stares at him for a long moment. Bruce looks between the two women almost desperately. The mother looks ready to burst into tears. The midwife looks unrelenting. “I-I’m not safe, she’s not safe with me, you can’t just give me your child!”

“Arjun achchha nahin hai,” the midwife repeats, but now she doesn’t sound as firm as before; she sounds a little shaken and the mother begins pushing herself up to sit up more fully in the bed.

“Krypa,” she repeats, tears shining in her eyes. She’s reaching up to push at the neckline of her gown, pushing it down her shoulders. “Krypa.” She leans forward, exposing her back and Bruce, despite himself, leans forward to look. Her back is a mess of lashes. There’s old scars overlayed with new ones and Bruce wants to be sick. His eyes track bruising on her back to wraps around to the front of her ribs. Bruce closes his eyes, fighting against the roaring in his head.

When he’s certain the green has receded from his eyes, he opens them again, sits on the edge of the bed and looks at the mother intently. She goes still, looking at him and Bruce wills himself to be calm. This part is too important to mess up.

“Banner,” he says, tapping his chest. “Mirai.” He taps the baby gently. He then taps the mother on the shoulder. She looks confused. “Banner.” He taps himself again. “Mirai.” He taps the baby. Then he reaches out and taps her again on the shoulder. “Banner.” Himself. “Mirai.” The baby. Her shoulder.

“Banner.”

“Mirai.”

Her shoulder.

“Banner.”

“Mirai.”

“Pia,” the mother says before he can tap her shoulder again. She taps herself on the chest. “Pia.”

“Pia,” Bruce murmurs. 

He looks at the midwife questioningly, who looks surprised but answers, “Rhea.”

“Rhea,” he repeats. He looks back at Pia. “She’ll know your name. Mirai will know who you are.” Pia bites her lip, shaking her head and trying to hold back tears and Bruce desperately wishes he knew the language better so he could tell her. So Pia would know she wouldn’t be forgotten, that her daughter would know who she was and what, exactly, she was sacrificing to give her a chance at safety.

“Arjun,” Rhea murmurs, standing at the door and peering out. 

Bruce reaches out and holds one of her hands in his. He’s taking too much liberty, he knows, but this is  _ important. _

“She’ll know your name,” he repeats, quickly, quietly. “Mirai will know who you are.” Pia frees her hand from her grasp and reaches up with trembling hands to undo the chain around her neck.

“Arjun,” Rhea says again urgently. Pia pulls the necklace over her head and presses it into Bruce’s hand. Bruce winds it around his hand quickly, squeezes Pia’s one last time before standing, balancing Mirai carefully. He clambers gracelessly out the window. Mirai stirs briefly at the commotion but settles easily enough and Bruce disappears into the night.

He’s nearly two streets away when he thinks he hears a roar followed by a cut-off scream.

  1. **You will do anything to protect your child**



Natasha Romanoff will never know how close she came to dying the day she was sent to bring in the Hulk.

She thinks she does. She pulled a gun on him after all. She’s a seasoned agent who would never have reacted the way she did if she didn’t feel her life was in immediate danger. Bruce smiled at her because he learned the hard way a close range bullet doesn’t work. He smiled because SHIELD should have known better than to think a group of armed soldiers would be enough to bring him down. Ross found that out the hard way. Bruce found out the hard way. All of Harlem found out the hard way.

She told him SHIELD had had eyes on him ever since he went under. That they’d been keeping tabs on him.

If she had even hinted at Mirai, Bruce wouldn’t have even tried to stop the Other Guy. Her and every SHIELD agent outside that godforsaken hut would have been dead in twenty minutes, the rest of the world be damned.

  1. **Having someone else around can helpful (even if they’re just as clueless as you)**



“Tony, I don’t think it’s supposed to go on like that.”

“What do you mean? It - see that’s the arm there -”

“I’m pretty sure it’s upside down -”

“And you put the leg through there...that hole is way too big.”

“I told you.”

“I don’t believe this. It’s upside down.” Tony stares at Mirai, perplexed. He turns to look at Bruce incredulously. “It’s upside down. How is it upside down? We are two of the most brilliant minds on the planet and we put a onesie on a baby upside down.”

“Uh,  _ you _ put a onesie on a baby upside down,” Bruce corrects, reaching out to start easing the onesie back off Mirai. “I told you it was wrong.”

“Well, it’s not like  _ you _ knew until it was already on,” Tony objects. “What did she wear while you guys were in India, anyway?” 

“Mostly a towel and whatever old shirts I could get my hands on,” Bruce answers. “It was hot and she’s a baby. As long as she had something to wear I wasn’t overly concerned.” Tony reaches out to tickle Mirai’s stomach. Mirai shrieks with laughter, kicking her legs and Bruce sighs as he grabs her leg so he can finish extracting her from the onesie while Tony blows raspberries at her. “You know, you’re not making me feel better about leaving tomorrow for the conference.”

“Please,” Tony says dismissively as Bruce takes a shot at dressing her. “Pepper’s already agreed I don’t have to go to any board meetings. Clint’s still on medical leave and Natasha will probably make sure nothing was on fire. If all else fails, Captain Boy Scout will be here. Mirai is going to get to spend some quality time with all her cool aunts and uncles, most importantly her coolest Uncle Tony, while her daddy goes and takes a much needed break and catches up with Dr. Ross.” He makes a face. “Maybe work on changing that name, I don’t like saying it.”

Bruce rolls his eyes and gives up on the onesie when he tries sticking her leg through the armhole.

\--

“You know you’re gonna have to dress her at some point,” Natasha comments when Tony walks into the kitchen, his mouth smashed into Mirai’s cheek and talking nonsense at her, Bruce following close behind them. Steve pours two mugs of coffee from his spot by the coffee maker. Tony, too caught up in making Mirai laugh by sticking his tongue out at her and crossing his eyes, doesn’t notice right away.

Natasha snaps a picture.

“We’ll just buy her lots of dresses,” Tony coos, smacking kisses on her cheek again. “Yes, we will, she’s gonna be the prettiest, best dressed baby in America, in lots of dresses and no onesies.”

“She’ll need onesies for wintertime,” Natasha tells them, turning back to the paper and Bruce and Tony both stop. “So she doesn’t get cold.”

“She’s right,” Steve says. He hands to plates of eggs to Bruce, who sets them on the table, and grabs a banana to cut up. Tony reluctantly puts Mirai down in her high chair and takes a seat at the table, taking a drink of his coffee.

“They didn’t even have onesies when you were growing up, Captain Virtue.” Tony makes a rude noises, disguising it as another raspberry aimed at Mirai. Natasha reaches over and smacks the back of his head, causing him to squawk indignantly. Steve ignores them both with the ease of several weeks of practice and puts the banana slices on Mirai’s tray, making a face at her. Mirai crosses her eyes trying to imitate him. 

“Where’s Clint?” Bruce asks, digging into the eggs on his plate.

“He said something about the agony of life being too much to bear and if we need him he’ll be dying in his room,” Natasha answers. Everyone pauses to look at her. She looks up at them and clarifies, “He forgot to take his pain meds last night and he’s waiting for them to kick in.” Steve sits down next to her and reaches over to slide the sports section out of the paper. The entire scene, Steve and Natasha sharing the paper, Tony apparently trying to entice Mirai into throwing her now rather mashed bananas at Steve, is extremely domestic and Bruce can’t quite quell the surge of warmth he feels.

\--

If Bruce were being honest, he would have expected Natasha to want to have as little to do with Mirai as possible. Not because he didn’t think Natasha didn’t care about her, but he would have thought she would have wanted to avoid potentially getting shoehorned into a stereotypical role as the only woman on the team.

That just went to show what he knew. Natasha was just as likely to strap a baby carrier to her chest as the rest of them if they decided to go on a group outing or run errands and were trying to give Bruce a break. Granted the first time it had happened, Bruce had watched in silent awe as she confidently began putting it on only to stop halfway when she realized she was putting it on almost sideways. Clint had laughed himself sick before going over and correcting her. 

It was the closest Bruce come so far to seeing Natasha blush.

It had become fairly common knowledge that where was a baby living with the Avengers, but the press and public couldn’t decide whose it was. The popular opinion at first was Natasha and Tony until the press got a semi-decent picture of Mirai and they realized she was too dark to be their child. Next was Natasha and some mystery lover (Clint had taken great delight in that article, bemoaning the loss of his soulmate to this mysterious and handsome stranger to anyone who would listen until Natasha had gotten fed up and pinched one of his pressure points). A few women had come forward and tried to claim the baby was theirs after a torrid affair with Tony but Pepper handled those with the ease of long practice.

(“It’s a little harder now,” Pepper confided to Bruce one time over lunch. “They’re hardly the first to claim they had a kid with Tony and they won’t be the last, but we could always prove Tony had never even met  the women before in his life. Now there’s actually a kid in the picture, living with Tony, so press isn’t letting this go the way they usually would, but it’s hardly the worse thing I’ve dealt with. A DNA test would the simplest way to disprove their claims, but...”

But there was no good way to explain where Mirai had come from if she wasn’t one of the team members biological child. Mirai had no birth certificate, but Hill had assured them they were working on documentation for her and for once, Tony seemed to be working in full alignment with SHIELD. Between his lawyers and SHIELD they were confident they could ensure Bruce had complete and total custody of Mirai. Most days the thought of that terrified but there was a deeper part of him that would be calmer once no one could take her away.

“I appreciate everything you’re doing,” Bruce told her sincerely, because he did. Between everything SHIELD and Tony’s lawyers were doing, Pepper keeping them out of the press as much as possible was just icing on the cake.)

Now, though, Bruce stops in the doorway of the nursery, watching Natasha walk in a circle, gently rocking Mirai and singing what sounded like a Russian lullaby. Her voice is low and husky and Bruce can see Mirai’s eyes getting heavier and heavier from across the room. Natasha is as dressed down as he has ever seen her in yoga pants and a tank top, hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and her feet bare.

He isn’t sure how long he stood there watching her, but he knows Natasha is aware of his presence even if she doesn’t acknowledge him. He stays silent so he doesn’t draw Mirai’s attention and undo Natasha’s work but he can’t make himself leave either. He’d had a good time at the conference, the first one he’d been to in a long time and he’d gotten the chance to reconnect with Betty. But he’d missed Mirai fiercely, skyping the tower every night to see her, and he’d missed the team as well.

Bruce misses his old life sometimes, but looking at Mirai and watching Natasha finally gently lay her in the crib, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, he can’t picture giving this up to have it back.

“You’re really good with her,” Bruce says quietly, approaching to crib to stand next to Nat and look down at the sleeping infant.

“Thanks.” There’s something a little sad in Natasha’s voice and Bruce casts desperately for something to say.

“Have you ever thought - have you ever considered having -”

“No,” she cuts him off, voice firm. They both fall silent, watching Mirai’s chest rise and fall. She’s tiny. Part of Bruce knows it’s his fault. Being on the run in India didn’t really allow for the best child development. She gets regular checkups with a pediatrician now and Tony’s already looking into nutrition specialists for when she’s completely onto solid foods to make sure her growth won’t be stunted, but Bruce still sees the nights where he didn’t have enough formula and she was finally so hungry she stopped crying. He still sees the nights where he kept a hand wrapped around her leg just make sure he could feel a pulse. The nights where the only thing he could do was count her breaths.

“I -” Natasha starts and then stops. “I cannot have children.” Bruce stays silent, letting her work through her thoughts. “The Red Room was...difficult. We were taught to have no attachments. To put the mission first.” She falls silent again for a long time.

“You don’t have to think that way anymore,” Bruce finally ventures softly and Natasha crosses her arms tightly over her chest, her face pinched.

“It’s not that,” she says, her voice tight. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearly bracing herself for something. “My...teachers...believed when it came to training women to be spies and assassins, that we could be taught near complete loyalty to Russia. To put always put our country first. There was just one thing that made us imperfect. One flaw that men did not have. One thing that could cause us to compromise our mission.”

“A child.” It isn’t a question. Natasha nods once, sharply.

“They corrected that flaw in all Widows when we turned fifteen.” Natasha’s knuckles are white where she grips her arms. “The day we turned fifteen, one year before we were sent out on our first missions, they ensured we would never be compromised, would never turn traitor.” She draws in a deep breath. “So, no, I never thought about having children of my own.”

Bruce leans slightly so his arm brushed up against Natasha’s. She stiffens for a moment before relaxing slightly and leaning into him. They stand that way for a long moment.

“Thank you,” Bruce says quietly. “For sharing that with me.” Natasha nods once sharply and straightens, heading for the door. “Hey, Nat?” She pauses and looks over her shoulder at him. “I never thought I’d get to have a kid either.” He gestures at Mirai. “Just because they took that from you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a family. Maybe you and Clint ought to talk about that.”

Natasha cocks her head to the side, a funny a little smile playing at her lips.

“Maybe we will,” she allows before slipping from the room.

  1. **Sometimes trusting yourself with your child is the most terrifying thing you could ever do.**



Bruce had heard of Reed Richards. He hadn’t ever met him officially. Their areas of study rarely overlapped but they had attended some of the same conferences and functions before; Bruce had just never quite made it to his side to introduce himself. Tony had apparently met him, several times, and had a lot to say about him from everything to his personality to his credibility as a scientist.

As far as first impressions went, meeting him while his arch-nemesis was trying to blow up Central Park was not a very good one.

Meeting him while his arch-nemesis was trying to blow up Central Park while Bruce was there  _ with his daughter _ was an even worse one.

Bruce is crouching beside a fountain, trying desperately to keep his calm, pulse thundering in his ears as Johnny Storm blows up another flying robot over their heads. Bruce thinks it says something about his life that he first, recognized the human fireball over his head and second, didn’t even blink. Mirai is whimpering against his chest, only a few moments from outright wailing and Bruce is watching, horrified, as green starts creeping down his arms.

“It’s okay,  _ priy, _ shh, shh, you’re alright,” Bruce murmurs, patting her back. “You’ve gotta calm down so daddy can stay calm, okay? I’m gonna get you outta here, nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Whoa, Dr. Banner! Huge fan of your work!” Bruce nearly jumps out of his skin as Johnny lands beside him. “But what are you doing here - is that a  _ baby?” _ For a moment, he’s not engulfed in flames and is apparently completely distracted from the fight around him as he leans over to peer at Mirai, who’s clinging to Bruce’s shirt. “Is that safe?”

When Bruce looks up, Johnny flinches back and Bruce knows there’s green in his eyes.

_ “Does anything about this look safe to you?” _ He hisses and over Johnny’s shoulder, he catches sight of a robot barrelling straight towards them.

He doesn’t remember much after that, but Tony will pull up the footage later so he can hear Johnny’s high-pitched scream when instead of leaning over Bruce Banner, the Hulk is suddenly towering over him and crushing one of the purported Doombots in his giant green fist.

\--

“You going somewhere, doc?”

Clint’s voice echoes through the garage and Bruce can’t quite stop his flinch. Clint doesn’t look overly concerned as he saunters closer, eyes trailing over the motorcycle Tony had mentioned didn’t have trackers on it and the backpack slung over Bruce’s shoulder. “I didn’t think you had any trips scheduled. You usually mention them ahead of time, you know, make sure we know we need to watch Mirai.” His voice is deceptively casual but his eyes are hard and Bruce finds he can’t quite meet them as he shuffles in place. This definitely wasn’t in the plan. The idea was to just leave quietly in the night. Tony very nearly threw a party when Bruce asked him to be godfather and Natasha’s eyes were suspiciously bright when he asked her to be godmother; between the two of them Mirai will be well-provided for and protected. He knows they’ll raise Mirai right, the way he wanted. He speaks Hindi to Mirai as much as possible and she’s started repeating words back to him. The team had all gone out of their way to start learning the language and culture so Mirai could grow up knowing where she came from. Bruce had told Tony and Natasha who Pia was; they’ll tell her about her mother. The only thing Bruce needs to do now is disappear.

“Clint -” Bruce starts, but Clint holds up his hand and Bruce falls silent.

“Now they tell me you’re pretty smart,” Clint says. “And I’ve seen the evidence to support that. But this right here?” He gestures to Bruce and the motorcycle. “This is pretty fucking dumb.”

Bruce bristles, hands clenching the straps of his backpack.

“There is nothing dumb about this,” he says stiffly. Clint snorts inelegantly and reaches up to fiddle with one of his hearing aids.

“What was that? I think my hearing aids are on the fritz,” he says. “Because I think I just heard you say there was nothing dumb about abandoning your kid.”

“I’m not -” Bruce starts to object, his voice hot, but Clint interrupts him.

“Oh? So there’s  _ another reason _ you’re down in the garage with a packed bag next to the one motorcycle Stark just happened to mention didn’t have a tracker in the middle of the night?” Clint pushes off the pillar he’s leaning against and advances on Bruce. And Bruce...Bruce is practically indestructible, he hasn’t been afraid of physical threats for a very long time, but he can’t help but lean back a bit when Clint stops close enough their chests are almost brushing.

“You can’t possibly think you can give me a good enough reason to justify doing this.” Clint’s voice is very, very soft, almost intimate and somehow that’s more terrifying than all the times Bruce cowered away from his father’s fists and bellows of rage growing up. 

“Mirai isn’t safe with me,” Bruce manages to get out and Clint scoffs.

“That’s bullshit,” he says. “Mirai couldn’t be any safer than when she’s with you. That was pretty clearly demonstrated this afternoon.”

“No, she’s not.” Bruce can’t quite keep the growl from his voice. Clint either doesn’t pick up on it or he had nerves of steel because he doesn’t even flinch. “I think this afternoon showcased exactly why my being around her is a mistake.”

“No, see, man, you’re not doing this for her.” Clint can’t step closer than he already is, but he does draw himself up a little taller. Bruce matches his posture before he can even think about doing so. “You’re not doing this for whatever bullshit excuse you’ve cooked up in your head to try and make yourself feel better about it. You’re doing this because you’re running scared.” The words hit Buce like a blow and he took a step back, running his hands through his hair, agitated.

“You don’t get it,” Bruce snaps. “I’m not good for her, I don’t keep her safe, I’m a goddamn monster and taking her was a -” The force of the blow sends Bruce sprawling into the motorcycle. The motorcycle crashes to the ground, Bruce landing painfully on top of it. He looks up at Clint with wide eyes. For a moment the only sound is Clint’s harsh breaths and Bruce’s softer pants.

“Don’t you dare-” Clint steps closer to Bruce and crouches down to look him in the eyes. “Don’t you  _ dare _ finish that sentence.” Bruce is silent. “You knew what you were when you agreed to take her in. You knew every time you had a chance to give her to someone else and didn’t. Your fucking problem, though, is you can’t see past your accident. It’s like the fact that she calls you  _ pita _ and you sing her a lullaby every night before bed doesn’t matter. You have one setback and you’re ready to throw it all away.”

“It’s not -” Bruce tries but Clint talks over him.

“Did you even look at the footage? Hulk protected Mirai through the whole thing with those goddamn robots. She never got a scratch. And when it was over, Hulk wouldn’t pass her over to anyone else until Tony got there  _ because he was protecting her. _ Twitter blew up with pictures of Hulk and Mirai and there’s not a single picture where Mirai even looks scared.” Clint pauses, as though he’s waiting for Bruce to say something. Bruce stays silent. Clint pushes himself to his feet and turns to leave. 

Just before he exits the garage, though, he stops to look back at Bruce.

“Go, if you feel like you have to,” he says. “But if you walk out that door, don’t you dare come back. Don’t you do that to her.”

\--

Clint looks unbearably smug when Bruce comes into the kitchen the next morning holding Mirai in his arms. Bruce can’t quite squash the curl of guilt he feels when he sees the look of naked relief on Tony’s face and the way Natasha and Steve relax just slightly at his appearance. He busies himself with settling Mirai into her high chair and when he turns back around Natasha brushes past him with a light touch on his arm before she pulls a chair over to face Mirai and play with her cheerios with her.

They’re going to spoil her, Bruce thinks fondly, accepting Steve clasping his wrist briefly when he passes him his mug of coffee. Mirai is constantly the center of attention and at some point she’s going to have to learn to entertain herself, but for right now Bruce thinks they can probably allow it. He accepts a plate of toast from Steve before he lets Tony draw him into his latest energy designs.

**+1. You will never regret the choices that gave you your child.**

“This really isn’t necessary,” Bruce says, staring in disbelief at the streamers and balloons and the banner strung above the highchair and the small mountain of gifts in the corner. On either side of him, Tony and Pepper scoff simultaneously.

“You only turn two once,” Tony objects. “And this isn’t nearly as bad any of my birthdays.” He pauses a moment before amending, “Any of my public birthdays. The privates ones were really just me and Jarvis.” Bruce very carefully doesn’t comment on the fact that Tony had had public birthday parties or the fact his own parents weren’t around to celebrate with their son.

“It’s true,” Pepper agrees. “I’ve seen some of the photos. His first birthday was especially ridiculous. He looked adorable smeared in cake, though.” She presses a kiss to Tony’s cheek, ignoring his whining at her and clips away to Steve, who’s bouncing Mirai in the air, grinning widely every time he gets a particularly loud squeal of laughter.

“And I remembered what you said about not a lot gifts,” Tony says after he manages to take his eyes off Pepper long enough to look back to Bruce. “So most of those gifts -” He points to the horrifyingly large stack of presents in the corner “-are for the children’s hospital and we’ll be taking them over tomorrow.” His brow furrows. “Pepper said I wasn’t allowed to go over the top for the party, something about my money making things awkward, I don’t know, you all literally live in my tower, I think you’re used to it, so I did wind up cancelling the mariachi band.”

“Did you happen to the cancel the fireworks show while you were at it?” Bruce asks drily. Tony looks vaguely guilty before he gets distracted by Pepper again across the room.

“Look, look, watch this,” he says, sounding gleeful and Bruce obediently turns to look at Pepper, who’s looking up at Steve from under her lashes. Steve looks like he doesn’t know what to do with attention, his cheeks bright red and his eyes keep sliding away before glancing back at her bashfully as he holds Mirai a bit like a lifeline.

“Um,” Bruce says eloquently as Pepper delicately places her hand on Steve’s bicep. Steve looks like he’d like the floor to open up and swallow him and he shoots a terrified glance at Tony, who manages to look away at the last second so he won’t get caught watching.

“She’s gonna scare him off,” Tony says ruefully, shaking his head. “Pep’s always been a go and get them sort. I know they say I’ve got no sense of subtlety but sometimes Pepper can be worse at it than I am. And Steve’s gotta be eased into this.”

“Is Steve even -” Bruce gestures helplessly at Tony, because clearly he and Pepper have already talked about this.

“We think so,” Tony says thoughtfully. “But anyway, this isn’t about us and Steve needs saving from self-combustion, so!” He bounds across the room, eases Mirai from Steve’s grip, which looks like the exact opposite of saving him to Bruce because now Steve doesn’t even have the distraction of a baby. Natasha, who’s been trading barbs with Happy for the last ten minutes, can’t quite stop her bark of laughter at Steve’s poleaxed and guilty expression when Pepper presses a kiss to Steve’s cheek before moving to talk to Clint.

The party, despite it being one baby and seven adults, is a hit. Mirai’s first taste of icing has her shrieking happily and throwing the rest of the cake across the floor in her excitement. Tony looks absolutely delighted with the reaction and Bruce just knows he’s going to bring it up at every available opportunity as Mirai gets older. He’s taken to the toddler like a duck to water, to the surprise of almost everyone. Natasha has taken it almost as a challenge and the two of them have been trying to outdo each other in who was the better godparent.

It’s going to end in tears, but Bruce isn’t sure whose.

The fireworks finale ends with Tony somehow having managed to spell ‘Happy Birthday Mirai’.

It’s in Hindi. Bruce is certain tomorrow there will be headlines about terrorists writing messages in the sky with fireworks. If the way Pepper is glaring at Tony, who is studiously looking the other direction, she agrees.

All in all, though, it’s an amazing first birthday celebration.

\--

“Bruce?”

Steve’s voice is soft as he enters the nursery. Bruce has been watching Mirai sleep for at least an hour now, still unable to believe this is his life.

“Yeah, Steve?” He replies, not looking up. Mirai’s curls are sticking to her forehead. Even in Tony’s tower, the August humidity manages to seep in just a little. She’s sleep soundly and Bruce can’t help but reach down and brush her hair back.

“I, uh, I was wondering if you could help me with something.” Steve’s voice is a little bashful and Bruce strokes Mirai’s cheek one last time before stepping back and turning to face Steve.

“What’s up?” He asks. He’s not entirely sure what Steve could need help with, unless it’s something about the century he’s not sure about. Usually though he’d wait until the morning or ask JARVIS.

“I, uh, I wasn’t sure what to get Mirai for her birthday,” Steve said. “And I realize she’s two, so she doesn’t really care. But I thought, maybe I could do something for when she’s older?”

“Alright?” Bruce asks curiously, moving to lead him from the room. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, uh, would you,” Steve ducks his head, embarrassed, before looking back up. “Would you describe Mirai’s mom to me? I don’t think you have a picture you could give her and I thought maybe she could know what her mom looks like.”

“Steve,” Bruce says quietly. “I’d like that. I think that’s a great idea.”

“Yeah?” Steve looks a little hopeful and Bruce abruptly remembers that Steve had lost his mom at a young age, thought out of all them, he was probably the only one who had really had decent parents, even for a short while.

“Yeah.” Bruce nods and Steve’s smile is soft as they head towards the lounge so Bruce can describe how Pia looked the first time she’d ever seen her daughter.

\--

When Steve presents the finished picture to Bruce a week a later, Bruce hangs it above Mirai’s crib and thanks her quietly for trusting him with her daughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr! 
> 
> cherrysoda45.tumblr.com
> 
> Edit: When I posted this last night, this story did not go through an editing process. Upon further rereads, I regret that decision and I'll be going through and fixing mistakes here soon.


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